CINCINNATI, Ohio--The University of Evansville volleyball squad split matches in day two of the Aussie Xavier Invitational at Xavier University.  In their first match of the day, UE was defeated by Eastern Michigan in four games, 3-1 (18-30, 30-24, 19-30, 17-30).  The Aces bounced back in match two of the day, defeating Delaware State 3-1 (30-28, 30-17, 30-32, 30-27).  With the split, UE stands at 3-4 on the season.

In their match against Eastern Michigan, UE started slow against the Eagle attack.  EMU took game one 30-18.  In the game, the Eagles had 18 kills to UE's 11.  EMU also finished the game with a .318 hitting percentage.

In game two, the Aces stepped up their play.  Late in the game, the Aces were trailing 18-17, but with back to back kills from junior Emily Whitney and freshman Emily Wandersee, it set the tone the rest of the way.  The Aces outscored the Eagles 13-6 to win the game, 30-24.

The win wasn't enough, as Eastern Michigan played well in the final two games to win the match.  The Eagles won game three, 30-19, and game four, 30-17. 

The Aces offensive struggles continued, but they did get some help from junior Sally Kulupka who finished with a team high 13 kills.  Wandersee was close behind her with 11.  The Eagles hit for a .253 percentage as a team for the match, hitting over .300 in two of the four games. 

In the second match of the afternoon, the Aces controlled things early, but let Delaware State hang close.  UE held on the win the match in four, 3-1.

Game one was a tough battle between two teams hungry for a victory.  UE jumped ahead early 3-0 with help from a kill by Kulupka and a service ace from Whitney.  The strong start was short lived as both teams played neck and neck throughout the game.  The Aces finished the game in dramatic fashion.  With the score knotted at 28, senior Megan Spurlock showed her leadership by knocking down a kill, and that was followed by a block by junior Kerry Sylvester and Kulupka.  UE won the game, 30-28.

The Aces showed dominance in game two jumping out to a 17-6 lead after a kill from Sylvester.  UE led the rest of the way, taking game two 30-17.

Game three started well for Evansville, but Delaware State showed great poise to propel to a win.  The Aces led late in the game, 27-22, but the Hornets stormed right back into things, outscoring UE 10-3 to finish the win 32-30.

The final game of the day for UE was another close one.  Delaware State jumped ahead 10-5 until midway through the match, when the Aces scored four straight points to take their first lead of the game 18-17.  UE never looked back, and held on to take the win in game four, 30-27.

Three Aces finished with over 10 kills.  Kulupka led the team with 19 and a .378 hitting percentage, Spurlock added 18 kills and Sylvester had 14.  Whitney played her best match of the year with 42 assists as well as eight kills.  Senior Julie Walroth showed her defensive presence once again netting 29 digs for the game.

"If we can just keep working on eliminating careless mistakes, we'll be fine," head coach Mike Swan said after the tournament.  "If we were playing at the top of our game, we would have been more competitive against Eastern Michigan, but we weren't very aggressive.  I hope the Delaware State win gives us the confidence we need when we go to Georgia next week.  I hope we can come up with a good line up that will give us production on both the offensive and defensive end."

The Aces will play again next weekend in the Bear Brawl at Mercer University.  UE's first game will be Friday morning at 9 AM against Charleston.